Dr. Md. Shairul Masreque and Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder :
We remember with a profound sense of grief two horrendous acts of killings: August 15, 1975 stand as the lowest and most shameful point in our history and 21st August another ugly story of throwing grenade in the meeting of Awami League was intended to finish the heavy weight leaders of Awama League mainly Sheikh Hasina. Hanif saved her. But ultimately he had to succumb to serious injury that he suffered long. Leader Ivy Rahman, the Wife of Zillur Rahman, the ex-President, was seriously injured. She was being helped by a party worker. She died after a few days of receiving serious injury.
The Dhanmondi Mayhem with the killing of , the father of the nation, including the killings of most of his family members and those close to him, was a veritable outcome of conspiracy designed by anti-secular reactionary elements hiding inside administration. The conspirators were all-out to turn the clock back to Pakistan days of blending primordial politics with religion. With the heinous acts of the perpetrators history took a bad turn to strike at the spirit of liberation war. In the case of August coup in 1975 the conspirators were all like minded working behind the scene with a common mission. They meet perhaps occasionally in a secret deal to draw an understanding about power-sharing mechanism. Mustaque was perhaps first choice of the clique group as the new president. It was if the the treacherous Mirzafar staged a come back in the role of infamous President. To cite a newspaper:
To brutally murder this great man in his own home not four years after the he had led us to victory and the dignity of being a free and independent people beggars belief.Even worse was the butchery of almost his entire family in the process, including his 10-year old son. The brutality and bloodiness of the assassins was chilling, and continues to shock the conscience even today, 40 years on.We may not agree on much as a nation, but surely we can all agree that these were killings that should never have happened and that can never be justified or excused.This should not be a partisan political thing. To mourn on August 15 is not the sole preserve of the Awami League or the family of Bangabandhu.The killings of August 15, 1975 were a national tragedy and it is right and befitting that the day be commemorated as a national day of mourning. The memory of that black day in Bangladeshi history should bring a tear to the eye of any proud Bangladeshi and every sentient human being.In a bitterly divided country, we must have some touch-stones of unity and consensus, to say nothing of decency and respect. The Liberation War is one of them, but August 15 must be another.
From the perusal of a number of reports, analysis of the columnists and political analysts it has been known that there were some international connections so far as 15 August coup was concerned. An exponent on political development stated that ‘if the USA had not prior knowledge of what was about to happen its intelligence would have been failing in its capability’. Presumably USA resented pro-Soviet policy posture ‘using food aid to pressurize Bangladesh government’. He goes on to comment that prior knowledge took on a larger and much deeper dimension. The knowledge was acquired from persons who for years were in fact directctly linked with USA as intelligentsia assets and they were directly involved in the execution of the coup’.Another political analyst expressed the views that ‘August coup was a turning point in the development of a warm of Bangladesh-USA relations. A facade of personal revenge against Mujib was attached to the August coup to camouflage the external involvement’.
August tragedy is based on conjectural guess partly based on the reports and analyses cited above and partly on talk of the town at that eventful moment. There was murmur that the perpetrators of the murderous coup that turned whole setting upside down had the blessings of the-then ambassador David Boster. It was known that amazingly Bhutta, the-then Prime Minister of Pakistan received information about the assassination so early and that USA embassy in Pakistan confirmed it a couple of hour after the gruesome killings. Pakistan including some Muslims countries then and then recognized the new government. Later on Pakistan dispatched food aid to Bangladesh as a gift. . There were also some assumptions that USA diplomats instrumental in giving directions to the new government were concerned about the safe exit of the perpetrators and perhaps negotiations in this behalf were going on through the buffer state run by the puppet government. Besides there some states that were safe zones for the terrorists who fled from their respective countries in apprehension
We all respect our national heroes remembering them when occassions arise. ‘A nation that does not respect its heroes can never respect itself or expect others to respect it in turn.Let us never forget that Bangabandhu was the greatest and most enduring of all of our heroes and ensure that he never is dislodged from the place of respect he deserves so long as our nation’
We remember with a profound sense of grief two horrendous acts of killings: August 15, 1975 stand as the lowest and most shameful point in our history and 21st August another ugly story of throwing grenade in the meeting of Awami League was intended to finish the heavy weight leaders of Awama League mainly Sheikh Hasina. Hanif saved her. But ultimately he had to succumb to serious injury that he suffered long. Leader Ivy Rahman, the Wife of Zillur Rahman, the ex-President, was seriously injured. She was being helped by a party worker. She died after a few days of receiving serious injury.
The Dhanmondi Mayhem with the killing of , the father of the nation, including the killings of most of his family members and those close to him, was a veritable outcome of conspiracy designed by anti-secular reactionary elements hiding inside administration. The conspirators were all-out to turn the clock back to Pakistan days of blending primordial politics with religion. With the heinous acts of the perpetrators history took a bad turn to strike at the spirit of liberation war. In the case of August coup in 1975 the conspirators were all like minded working behind the scene with a common mission. They meet perhaps occasionally in a secret deal to draw an understanding about power-sharing mechanism. Mustaque was perhaps first choice of the clique group as the new president. It was if the the treacherous Mirzafar staged a come back in the role of infamous President. To cite a newspaper:
To brutally murder this great man in his own home not four years after the he had led us to victory and the dignity of being a free and independent people beggars belief.Even worse was the butchery of almost his entire family in the process, including his 10-year old son. The brutality and bloodiness of the assassins was chilling, and continues to shock the conscience even today, 40 years on.We may not agree on much as a nation, but surely we can all agree that these were killings that should never have happened and that can never be justified or excused.This should not be a partisan political thing. To mourn on August 15 is not the sole preserve of the Awami League or the family of Bangabandhu.The killings of August 15, 1975 were a national tragedy and it is right and befitting that the day be commemorated as a national day of mourning. The memory of that black day in Bangladeshi history should bring a tear to the eye of any proud Bangladeshi and every sentient human being.In a bitterly divided country, we must have some touch-stones of unity and consensus, to say nothing of decency and respect. The Liberation War is one of them, but August 15 must be another.
From the perusal of a number of reports, analysis of the columnists and political analysts it has been known that there were some international connections so far as 15 August coup was concerned. An exponent on political development stated that ‘if the USA had not prior knowledge of what was about to happen its intelligence would have been failing in its capability’. Presumably USA resented pro-Soviet policy posture ‘using food aid to pressurize Bangladesh government’. He goes on to comment that prior knowledge took on a larger and much deeper dimension. The knowledge was acquired from persons who for years were in fact directctly linked with USA as intelligentsia assets and they were directly involved in the execution of the coup’.Another political analyst expressed the views that ‘August coup was a turning point in the development of a warm of Bangladesh-USA relations. A facade of personal revenge against Mujib was attached to the August coup to camouflage the external involvement’.
August tragedy is based on conjectural guess partly based on the reports and analyses cited above and partly on talk of the town at that eventful moment. There was murmur that the perpetrators of the murderous coup that turned whole setting upside down had the blessings of the-then ambassador David Boster. It was known that amazingly Bhutta, the-then Prime Minister of Pakistan received information about the assassination so early and that USA embassy in Pakistan confirmed it a couple of hour after the gruesome killings. Pakistan including some Muslims countries then and then recognized the new government. Later on Pakistan dispatched food aid to Bangladesh as a gift. . There were also some assumptions that USA diplomats instrumental in giving directions to the new government were concerned about the safe exit of the perpetrators and perhaps negotiations in this behalf were going on through the buffer state run by the puppet government. Besides there some states that were safe zones for the terrorists who fled from their respective countries in apprehension
We all respect our national heroes remembering them when occassions arise. ‘A nation that does not respect its heroes can never respect itself or expect others to respect it in turn.Let us never forget that Bangabandhu was the greatest and most enduring of all of our heroes and ensure that he never is dislodged from the place of respect he deserves so long as our nation’
(Dr. Md. Shairul Masreque is Professor, Chittagong University and Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder is Member, PSC)
